1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a heat exchanger, and more particularly to a multi separation type condender of the gaseous and liquid phases of the refrigerant.
2. Prior Art
Many heat exchangers as one of vehicle-loaded condenser utilize the parallel flow or multiflow type condenser in which the refrigerant flows in a zigzag pattern within the condenser along a plurality of paths defined between the two header pipes. As shown in FIG. 1, the heat exchanger of parallel flow type such as the one embodied in the form of a condenser 10 conventionally comprises a plurality of flat tubes 11 and corrugated fins 12 stacked alternately between adjacent flat tubes, a first header 13 to which the flat tubes 11 are connected at one ends thereof, and a second header 14 to which the flat tubes are connected at the other ends thereof. The condenser 10 also has a pair of side plates 20 and 21 disposed at the outermost thereof, and both ends of each of the headers 13 and 14 are closed by blind caps 17 and 18. An inlet pipe 15 is connected to the first header 13 adjacent its upper end and an outlet pipe 16 is connected adjacent its lower end. The outlet pipe 16 may be connected to the second header 14 differently from FIG. 1. Such location of the inlet/outlet pipe may be determined in relation with the number of paths formed.
Both the first and second header 13 and 14 are provided with baffles to define a plurality of paths each defined by a plurality of flat tubes 11. FIG. 1 shows four paths formed and the number of paths varies with increase or decrease of the baffles. In the multiflow type condenser, the refrigerant flows in zigzag fashion between the inlet pipe 13 and the outlet pipe 16.
The refrigerant introduced into the condenser 10 provided with the above-mentioned construction is condensed into a liquid state and delivered toward an external receiver 22 via a conduit connected to the outlet pipe 16 and then, stored therein. The receiver 22 maintains a certain volume of refrigerant so as to deal with rapid change of the amount of refrigerant in, for example, an automotive refrigeration systems according to variations of the load. The receiver is normally provided with a desiccant and/or a filter for removing water and dust from the condensed refrigerant.
With a conventional refrigerant system, the condenser and the receiver are separately provided and communicated with each other via a conduit so as to have disadvantages of a large mounting space and added cost. Further, since the refrigerant flows within the condenser in a zigzag fashion in a state of coexistence of two phases of gas and liquid of the refrigerant, it is hard to obtain a condensing effect utilizing separation of the gaseous and liquid phases of the refrigerant within the condenser.